I'm not a cat person (spelunking my comic archive)
I went spelunking in my art archive folder and found this ancient comic I drew about why I'm not a cat person.
Later that year, my stance on cats softened slightly. Still not a cat person though.
It's weird looking at art that I made nearly 10 years ago. I've made a lot of progress in many ways, but I still find myself feeling like I gave less of a shit back then about things being "good enough." There was more of a sense of freedom, and certainly less self-imposed pressure to make "good" art. I drew what I wanted to draw, how I wanted to draw it, because I liked it, and that was enough. Older art like this often feels more loose and fluid, mistakes and all.
Sometimes (a lot of the time) it's very easy to forget that every new drawing doesn't have to be the best thing I've ever drawn. This is what artists mean when we say that we're our own worst critics. We doubt ourselves and fuss too much and worry about whether or not all of our best work is already behind us. There are days when it's easy to skip right over those doubts and make great, satisfying art. And then there are days when it feels like the creative part of our brain is submerged in quicksand. I try to keep a folder full of inspiration for those days with drawings that I'm really happy with, and a few screenshots of kind words others have said. Every now and then, dipping into that folder is a good reminder that feeling stuck is entirely in my head, and the best way out is to draw myself an exit.
—Jeff